Disclaimers: Not mine
Spoilers: Inside The Box
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THE PERFECT FAMILY
(Chapter 4)
Catherine's knock on the door was greeted, to her relief, by her sister. "Hey Cat." The usual cheery nature of her sister was replaced by one of solmenity. A hug later, they were joined at the door by a girl close to Lindsey's height.
"Hey Nina." Catherine smiled, patting the litle girl's head.
"Hi Aunt Cat!" Nina smiled, showing off a gap between two of her side teeth, and quickly took Lindsey's hand into her own, "C'mon Lindsey! I'll show you your room and then we'll go see the horses!"
"There's horses here?" Lindsey's excited voice faded as she and her cousin sped upstairs.
"Was it hard getting time off from work with such little notice?" Katie, Catherine's sister, asked as they brought the bags inside.
"No, it was ok." Catherine answered, not wanting to get into the fact that it was easy because Grissom had handled everything for her. Her eyes scanned the foyer. The place looked exactly like how she remembered it.
"She's in the guest room. She can't walk those stairs much anymore." Katie nodded at the stairs the girls had just ascended. "You wanna go see her now?" She asked cautiously, sensing Catherine's hesitation.
Taking a deep breath, Catherine nodded. "Better now than never." She followed her sister to the door just off the living room.
"You go on ahead. I'll get Lindsey. Mom's been really excited about meeting her." Katie gave her sister's hand a squeeze as reassurance and left her there in front of the door.
Catherine knew she couldn't think about this any longer. If she did, she would chicken out and just leave. So without another thought, she opened the door and to her surprise, instead of feeling the same anger she had been feeling for so many years now, all she felt was sadness. It was saddening to find her mother, a skeleton of what she used to be, sitting alone by the window in a rocking chair. Even with an entire room between them, she could see that her mother was not the full-figured, passionate woman she had left.
"Mom?" Her voice was small, even in the deafening silence of the room.
"Caitlyn, let Nina ride one of the horses today. It looks like such a warm day outside."
"Mom, I'm not Katie." Catherine made her way across the room but froze when her mother turned to look at her.
"Catherine?"
She had promised herself she wouldn't cry, especially not in front of her mother but Catherine had trouble holding back her tears when she heard her mother say her name. "Hi mom." She wasn't sure what else to say and was relieved when the door opened and in came Lindsey and Katie.
Lindsey looked, with a little fear, at her 'new' grandmother, then at her mother. "Mom?"
Catherine smoothed her hand down Lindsey's hair and whispered with a smile, "I'm ok, sweetie." Not able to hold back her tears any longer, she hurried out of the room.
Katie placed her hand on Lindsey's back and gently nudged her towards the old lady, who was now beginning to realize who the little girl was. "Lindsey? This is your grandma. Mom, this is Lindsey."
*To be continued*